Synthesis of Fe-THC MOFs and functionalizing MOFs by MXenes for the selective removal of lead(ii) ions from wastewater

Irfan Ijaz; Aysha Bukhari; Ezaz Gilani; Ammara Nazir; Hina Zain

doi:10.1039/d2ra08102d

Synthesis of Fe-THC MOFs and functionalizing MOFs by MXenes for the selective removal of lead(ii) ions from wastewater

RSC Adv. 2023 Feb 15;13(9):5643-5655. doi: 10.1039/d2ra08102d. eCollection 2023 Feb 14.

Authors

Irfan Ijaz¹, Aysha Bukhari¹, Ezaz Gilani¹, Ammara Nazir¹, Hina Zain²

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemistry, Faculty of Basic Sciences and Mathematics, Minhaj University Lahore Lahore 54700 Pakistan iffichemixt266@gmail.com.
² Department of Allied Health Sciences, Superior University Lahore Lahore 54700 Pakistan.

Abstract

The elimination of heavy metals, especially lead, from wastewater is vital for the environment and human health and using a proper adsorbent to achieve this goal is highly desirable. Initially, Fe-THC MOF was prepared using a simple method and functionalized using MXene for efficient, rapid, and selective elimination of lead. Different characterization tools demonstrated that Fe-THC MOF and its composite Fe-THC/MXene were successfully prepared. The adsorption outcomes showed that the maximum sorption capability was 674 mg g^-1 at 305 K and pH 4.5. The sorption kinetics obeys the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and the sorption isotherms fit the Langmuir isotherm model. This finding suggests monolayer sorption on Fe-THC/MXene, and the rate-controlling step is chemisorption. Thermodynamic findings exhibit that sorption was a spontaneous and exothermic process. The sorption process can selectively adsorb Pb ions from aqueous media. After five adsorption-desorption tests, the adsorption efficiency of Fe-THC/MXene was still high. The sorption mechanism of lead on Fe-THC was mainly due to the interaction of lead ions with -F and -O ions and porosity of the Fe-THC/MXene composite. The -O and -F ions were derived from MXene, while the porosity was derived from the MOFs of composites. These findings confirmed that Fe-THC/MXene enables rapid, efficient, and selective elimination of lead from wastewater, which is of practical importance.